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A major let down for a popular game choice

I have never found a poor version of the Fifa games but I am sad to admit I found one. When you play the Nintendo DS console you do expect to find some problems in term of the graphics and sometimes game play.

Little did I realise both of these problems exist with the Fifa 10 game. You begin your journey by seeing your options and these usually revolve around starting a friendly type of match or even taking part as a manager.

When you play a game you pick teams as you do on the other versions of the game. You pick a team and then off you go. You use the control pad on the Nintendo DS console to move the players around but you can if you wish make your team attack or defend by pressing a button on the top corner of the screen.

Your team will either or defend when you do this so that is kind of cool but what I struggle to understand is how they believe this game is going to sell. You cannot work out who has the ball unless you see the name displayed at the top or listen to commentary. I had Rooney and Ryan Giggs for Manchester United this weekend and I couldn't tell them apart.

The problem is that when you play this game on the bigger consoles the graphics are exceptional and so is the game play but on this game you get little of either. The game play to begin with is slow and the game is not true to the real game itself. You defend if you want to but if you even attempt to make a tackle whether fair or not you are going to get either a yellow or red card for that offence.

I find that the game is not great when tackling takes places because it appears to me the opposition especially if your against the computer will win the ball more times then not. I have noticed that if you score a goal and try the same move again it usually works so you could in theory win a game by a substantial goal difference.

The graphics as mentioned above are beyond terrible. You cannot work out who is who and at times you do think you have crumbs on your screen moving around because there is no way to identify a player unless your told. I think the game lacks any real depth in terms of colours because everything looks dark and laid back.

I think the game was perhaps not needed for the Nintendo DS console, they could have perhaps focused on just one idea on the game such as playing a match and making it last over both screens but I do not see this happening.

There is plenty to do with all this being said but when you begin playing the game if you continue I would be shocked I found out within an hour this game would never be one for me to purchase.

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A game to be enjoyed by children

I'm writing this review purely from a third party persepctive, it is my 6 year old son who plays the game. Neither am I a gaming or technical expert so cannot really comment on the technicality of the graphics etc. Most of the reviews of the game I have read have rated it as rather poor, however my son gets great enjoyment from the game.

My son received this game as a reward for good behaviour over a period of time. He has had it a fair few months now and I can honestly say that anytime his DS is picked up the cartridge in the DS will be Fifa 10. This game is played on a daily basis, now I don't allow my son to play all day on his DS, strictly after homework and if his behaviour has been good.

I listen to my son playing the game and he gets really involved in the matches, it is almost like having a running commentary from Match of the Day. He really gets into the characters and the flow of the match, the game holds his attention, enthusiasm and he generally has great enjoyment from it. He shows me action replays and looks for consolation if a referee's decision does not go his way. I have looked at the images on screen and the graphics seem ok for an electronic game, it is obvious who the teams are if not the individual players. I cannot compare this version against over consoles as we only have it for the DS.

This game seems to be good fun and my 6 year old thoroughly enjoys it, older DS players may want a more tactically challenging game but for my son this is a game he plays over and over again. A definite recommendation from my 6 year old son.

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If you want a football game on the ds , you have no alternative

In recent years FIFA has run wild in the footballing game race, with less and less going to PES. FIFA 10 on the DS lets you take your team out on the road and play through all manner of modes with many teams, anytime and anywhere.

The key part of FIFA is the gameplay and how it controls, with the absence of joysticks its a return to the PS1 style of play and using the trusty D-pad. This feels a little unnatural to begin with due to the lack of movement but you soon start to compromise with it and get better, whats annoying though is that 360 movement is there its just a very fine skill when you only have 4 directions to aim for. Playing the game doesn't have as much variety as the home consoles, don't expect fancy flicks and thoughtful AI as this really is bare bones football for a fix on the go. The game still has great responce in passing, shooting and dribbling but the lack of animations and variety soon feel more like a port of the PS1 game. The quick pace of the game however doesn't transfer to well though and even using Ronaldo felt like he was the big lad on the sunday league team, who has a pint and a pastie instead of an orange at half time. The AI ability depends on the difficulty, Amatuer is a peice of cake with any small amount of ability but the top levels will leave you with a bit of a test. AI players do try and follow tactics like counter attacking and the offside trap but it can feel like your both 5 year olds in the playground and the rubbish kid in defence always wants a peice of the action. Custom tactics do appear and you can tweak them if you think your team is capable enough , as do Custom set peices which let you set your team up in 4 different ways for numerous free kick and corner situations, It's nice to see a big feature of the console games make an appearance here. The game is seen through the top screen and holds the usual information like score and names, but on the bottom it will change between numerous things depending on the situation. Normal play and their is a manager sim style board with dots showing player positions, this really comes in handy when making that killer pass. Other uses are moving the wall in a free kick, selecting tactics and the power meter/aiming for free kicks and penaltys.

The usual array of modes appear , manager mode , quick play , tournament and be a pro. Manager mode - Play through your managerial career over 15 seasons, either take a struggling low league club and make them champions or pick your favorite team and win everything on offer. Everything thats in the console version appears here with the transfer system, injuries and the club board all appearing to make you go mad. This isn't as immersive as what I thought it may be, although everythings the same the polish isn't there and this makes it feel a little less the work seeing as I would play FIFA on my console and this is more for quick games in my break and commute. Quick play - Pick your team and your opponent and away you go, this takes less than 20 seconds to get started and so it's great for a matches when their isn't a lot of time. A good thing with quick play is that it remembers your settings and choices so you don't have to set up things like stadiums or tactics every time. Tournaments - The tournament mode lets you meet in the middle of quick play and manager mode, play through anyone of the top leagues tournaments, either the league or cups and try to take your team to glory. Be a pro - This is probably the weakest of the modes as it just hasn't been thought through, you control your own player and go through 5 seasons rising through the ranks to be top of the club and national team. This is a game mode which relies a lot on your positioning and personal ability , however the camera angle and small screen make it very difficult to know where you should be and what you should be doing. When it is done well on the console this is a really good experience but on the DS it is a rather weak addition. You do also have a training mode in which you can practice set peices or matches to get used to the control system. Finally their is the option to create your own team with a personal crest and look, which you can then take through the game modes, something which will feature as well in FIFA 11 for consoles.

Multiplayer also features over Wifi but this is very basic as you would expect, their are team games and solo with both running smoothly at 60 frames per second. However this is much better with freinds as finding a stranger to play online is a small percentage.

FIFA is known for its licensing and 31 leagues with 500 teams , the same as the consoles versions are here, including the russian league which isn't on any other version. This means you are bound to find your team and be able to play as them. In addition there are around 40 stadiums with some generic ones as well as well known places like , camp nou, the emirates and the san siro to name only 3. These all look rather like their real counterparts albeit in DS graphics.

Speaking of graphics , the easiest way to imagine it is if you imagine FIFA 10 on the PS1, the colours are simple and everything has a blocky design. Players are of the right colour and play in correctly labeled shirts, but you wont be able to see any other major details really about the player.

The commentry is exactly the same as FIFA 09 on the DS and the chants are as well, this is a little poor on EA's part as I would expect some work on the sounds of the game.

Available on Amazon for £18, If you want a football game for the DS their is no real competition so it is mainly this fact that it sells, it isn't a great game and is more just to cash in on the DS rather than a purpose made title which is tailored.

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OK game but not worth the price tag

Fifa Street 2 (DS)

Why I got this game?After playing the playstation versions of the game when I was younger I thought I would chance the game on DS as I managed to pick up a relatively cheap copy online during the sales.

My OpinionThe game is really simple to use and the difficulty levels allow you to play games which are not too easy but not too challenging depending on how good you are at playing it. I do enjoy this game as you can just pick it up and play a couple of matches whenever you like. The only main disadvantages are that it is quite repetitive so can become boring if you play it a lot as it is primarily the same thing over and over. Also compared the other versions of the game the graphics are hugely different. The DS graphics in comparison to xbox360 HD are well virtually incomparable. It is fair to say that this game graphically is very poor.

Game PlayThe game follows a simple layout the same as all of the previous editions of the game.

-Kick off-This allows you to select any team from a large selection of teams across the world in all of the leagues respectively. Each team is made up of the original squad up to date at the time of producing. On this selection mode you can have a free play game that is 90 "mini" minutes (you can select time scales and other options on this mode).

-Game Modes-

o Be a Pro oHere you create a player or use an existing player and try to achieve the targets set on the game you play both for club and country and have to perform well to be picked for either squad. This is a new feature on DS but has been availiable on other consoles for some time I believe.

o Tournament oHere you can play tournaments against other teams in order to win cups. You can also play tournaments within manager mode as you are automatically entered in to them in the season.

o Manager Mode o This is the classic FIFA game essentially in this mode it is your job to manager a team; transfer players, play matches and virtually anything managers do in a season. You get objectives for five seasons and have to aim to achieve these in order to improve your reputation. It can be fun and challenging at times but the graphics of the game and the game play as a whole are no where near the quality that you can experience on other consoles and this is what lets the game down heavily.

o Penalty Shootout oIn this mode you select a team and practice your penalty taking and saving skills against another team. This can be fun for a bit but is more fun at the end of a match like the FA Final for example.

-My FIFA 10-This enables you to alter your settings such as difficulty mode game times etc. Here you can also create your own player and also view the unlockable extras on the game.

-Multiplayer-This enables you to connect via wireless connection with single or multi-card play.

-Training-This section of the game allows you to practice areas of the game that you may struggle on here you can select as player in a position and work on set pieces and different areas of play. If you select training within the manager mode you can increase the skills of your players.

PriceThe game itself is priced highly as a top rated DS game (Around £25), however it is very expensive for its capabilities and would recommend purchasing it at the lowest price available. It can be found on some online retailers for £15 new. In stores it will generally be a higher price however pre-owned games will also be cheaper of course.

RatingOverall I think the game is pretty average. The graphics of the game let it down hugely as the other versions of this game for example Xbox and Playstation have a great deal better graphics and are priced very similar. I do not think the high price tag for this game can be justified on this console as the graphics are by no means good and I think that DS can do better than this. The modes on this game have improved from FIFA's last attempts on DS but they still don't quite meet the mark. I would recommend the game if it was on sale at a reduced price as it may be a justified purchase then. However I would recommend FIFA Street over this game as it's much more entertaining and i'd probably even say it has better graphics!!

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Poor

FIFA 10 is the most recent FIFA game out. This particular review is for the Nintendo DS version.

The game is a football game where you can play against a number of different teams from leagues all over the world. You can either play as a club team or as in international team.

This game is also slightly like the football manager game series played on PC. This is because you can select your team and decide who is playing and what formation and tactics then get the computer to play out the game for you! But I think this takes away the fun of the game and I prefer to play the game myself. You can select different lengths of time to play the game, but I find it can get a bit boring if you select too long to play each half, because the team you are playing against seems to play pretty much the same throughout the entire match. You can also win by ridiculous amounts if you play for too long.

The controls for the game can be a little confusing at first because there are so many buttons to use and I often find myself pressing the "change player" button when running towards the ball and then I end up selecting the wrong player and losing the ball!

The graphics on the screen are pretty poor and because the screen isn't very large on the DS it makes it even worse. I would like to play this game on the Playstation to see how much of a difference there is.

I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone who has a DS, I think you are better off playing this game on a more powerful machine. If you really do want to buy this game then why not try one of the older versions of the games, the only major difference is who is playing in your team and you can sell and buy players in the game anyway so it isn't a major problem. The older versions can be bought for a lot less money too!

I didn't like this game and was gutted I spent so much money on it, don't bother!